Dead wood
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Dead wood

by Antonio Jordán, University of Seville, Sevilla, Spain

When crop residues fall to soil after the death of plants, organic compounds undergo decomposition. Decomposition is a biological process that includes physical decomposition (fragmentation) and transformation of organic complex biochemicals in simpler organic molecules (sugar, aminoacids, etc.) and inorganic molecules (salts). With time and microbial activity, new complex organic molecules (humus) are formed.